Remember the Amalgam Universe? It’s probably best forgotten. For those of you too young to remember, DC and Marvel mashed up their universes for one month back in the mid-90s. Characters from both sides where blended together to create new versions.

While the whole thing was little more than a sales stunt, one unique item floated above the rest. “Batman: The Animated Series” was on the air, and the “Batman Adventures” comic that accompanied it was popular. In a flash of brilliance, DC and Marvel published an Amalgam book done in the style of the animated series and book. (By Ty Templeton and Rick Burchett.) That’s what the kids today would call “meta.”

Out of that book came animated versions of Dark Claw (Batman + Wolverine, because of course it was) and Sparrow (Robin + Jubilee).

For my first full dip into the 6″ animated figure pool, I wanted to make characters that I knew would never be manufactured, while not repeating myself. These two fit the bill nicely.

Dark Claw was built on the BTAS Batman figure, specifically the Phantasm two-pack version. (I chose that version because his teeth show. Seemed appropriate.) The claws are taken from the Marvel Legends “brown” Wolverine. The mask “wings” were cut from the same Wolverine, then carefully reshaped and affixed to Batman’s noggin. The boot tops are shaped from Magic Sculpt. The belt consists of cut pieces of vinyl, tucked under each other for a 3-dimensional effect. The belt buckle is Magic Sculpt.

The orange stripes were printed and carefully cut, and applied with mat gel medium. I am not crazy enough to try and paint that many crisp lines by hand.

This character was a lot of fun to make, and he’s been on my list for many years. I’m glad I chose to make him in the new, larger scale.

I’ve made pages of the stripes and the belt shapes available in the Downloads section (under “Emblems.”)

I did not, but I probably should have. I’ve never been one to take things apart and sand the joints to accommodate paint, but again, I probably should.

If I was going to take it apart, I’d probably shoot each joint with a hair dryer to soften the plastic, and then yank out the arms/legs/head/torso/etc. Then reheat the target area before popping a joint back into place.